Ted Litschauer Jr.

December 9, 1999

Social Commentary

Religious undertones in

The Matrix

Throughout history man has used the guise of symbolism in fairy tales, poems, and literature to hide a deeper meaning. This deeper meaning could have been political, religious, or society oriented. One obvious example is Louis Carroll’s twisted tale, Alice in Wonderland, which has blatant drug and social undertones. Even today political and religious undertones still can be found in literature and feature film. One recent and much talked about feature film is the Wachoski Brother’s movie, The Matrix. Religious references, theme, and character symbolism prove there are religious undertones in the feature film, The Matrix.

When we read the newspaper or as we watch TV we can get a sense that religion plays an important role in everyday life. However, the presence of religion is not always as evident. If a person watches The Matrix as a sci-fi action film, then that is all he or she will see. Yet when look deeper we will notice more then a handful of religious references. The Matrix is rife with spiritual parallels (Elliot). The writer/directors have fashioned a compelling scenario with blatant Christian allegories (Forsmark). Though Christianity is most evident many other religions are represented as well, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. In an interview with Calvary Episcopal’s priest Matthew Zimmerman. He commentated; he saw Buddhism also represented. John Banks, an online movie critic, would agree biblical tradition is not the only one (religion) the Wachoski Brothers mined for the script. There are flashes of Buddhism and Hinduism (1). Through the representation of religion or politics this story starts to develop a theme.

The most obvious theme is that of the Christian story of the coming of a Savior, when the world has gone astray.

It (the Matrix story) is a parable of the original Judeo-Christian world gone wrong, with no hope of survival or salvation, short of something miraculous . . .a religious parable of the second coming of mankind’s messiah. . . (cleave.com).

Another Biblical theme evident in the movie is that we are blinded from the truth. In the movie the world is but a computer program designed to blind people from seeing the true reality. The devil does much the same thing, using our five senses to deceive and prevent us from becoming aware of our invisible spiritual realities (Elliot). When the devil has blinded us, a Savior comes to our aid. This theme can be shown directly in the Judeo-Christian text, The Holy Bible:

In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them, which believe not lest, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV).

In the movie, the computer program the Matrix presents to the people a world that is only an illusion. The world as an illusion is a religious belief of the Hindu. In Hinduism the world is Maya, which comes from the root word magic. In saying the world is Maya . . . is saying that there is something tricky about it (Smith 70). The trick lies in the way the world is passed off as being independently real, real apart from the stance we see (70). This is the case with Neo, the main character, who sees the world as it is, until he awakes to find out it was all an illusion.

Many times characters represent something within us, or they might represent society in general. In the movie The Matrix, the characters symbolize the great players from the Christian story of Jesus Christ. The characters in the movie are: Neo, Thomas Anderson, who is played by Keneau Reeves; Trinity who is played by Carrie-Anne Moss; Morpheus who is played by Laurence Fishburne, and Cypher played by Joe Pantolian (The Matrix-movie).

According to the Rev. Zimmerman, Neo is the savior figure (interview). In the Christian religion Jesus is the savior of the world (Smith 331). At the beginning, until he is awakened Neo is just a lonely computer hacker, but towards the end he realizes he is “the one”. Neo means “new” which is proper for what a savior provides his followers. . .a new beginning (Elliot). To fully understand the depth of this character, one must look at his true name in the movie, Thomas Anderson. Both the first and last name have Christian connotations. In ancient traditions, Thomas was considered the twin of Jesus. And Anderson can translate as Son of Man from the Greek Andros (Banks).

Morpheus has been looking for Neo, who he believes is the one. Morpheus serves as a kind of John the Baptist figure.

Having been found and baptized into the unfamiliar realm of reality by Morpheus . . . Neo undergoes extensive training to equip himself for the battle ahead - Just as Jesus continually worked the scriptures (Elliot).

Behind every great man, there is a great female. Behind Neo, is Trinity. Neo is Trinity’s love interest. Therefore, Trinity fills the roll of Mary Magdalene (Banks). But Rev. Zimmerman disagrees. He sees her as the femininity of God (interview). Even her name is lifted from the Christian religion. Trinity is the Christian term for the three forms of God. The third key Christian doctrine . . . is the Trinity. It holds that while God is fully one, he is also three (Smith 344).

There is also a Judas among the rebels. This Judas turns against Neo and Morpheus (Elliot). In the movie, Cypher betrays Neo by selling himself out, accepting the comfort and ignorance of the Matrix to the truth (The Matrix-movie). In the bible Judas is the betrayer of Jesus Christ.

The movie, The Matrix is more then a sci-fi action-thriller. In using the guise of symbolism, The Matrix becomes not just an action thriller, but also a well-crafted religious epic. When looking deeper for the biblical references, the character symbolism, and the theme it can be proven there are religious undertones contained in this movie.

Works Cited

(continue your own research)

Banks, John D. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. AMatrix fun goes deeper Online Posting. 24 Nov. 1999.

06 Dec.1999. www.hollywoodjesus.com/matrix2.htm

Elliot, Michael. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. The Christian Critic on the Matrix. The Christian Critic 06 Dec.

1999. www.christiancritic.com/movies/matrix.htm

Formark, David. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. What is the Matrix? Online Posting 16 Nov. 1999.

06 Dec. 1999. www.hollywoodjesus.com/matrix2.htm

Holy Bible. United States World Bible Publishers, Inc., 1989.

The Matrix as a Parable. Cleave.com 08 Dec. 1999. 08 Dec. 1999. www.cleave.com/sight/TheMatrix/parable.htm

The Matrix. Dir. Wachoski Brothers. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie Ann Moss. Warner Brothers, 1999.

Smith, Houston. The Worlds Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991.

Zimmerman, Rev. Matthew. Personal Interview. 07 Dec. 1999.

Works Consulted

(for more information)

Banks, John D. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. Matrix fun goes deeper. Online Posting.

24.1999. 6 Dec.1999 www.hollywoodjesus.com/matrix2.htm

Elliot, Michael. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. AThe Christian Critic on the Matrix. The Christian Critic 06

Dec.1999. www.christiancritic.com/movies/matrix.htm

Formark, David. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. AWhat is the Matrix. Online Posting 16 Nov. 1999. 06 Dec. 1999. www.hollywoodjesus.com/matrix2.htm

Holy Bible. United States World Bible Publishers, Inc., 1989.

The Matrix as a Parable. Cleave.com 08 Dec. 1999. 08 Dec. 1999. www.cleave.com/sight/TheMatrix/parable.htm

The Matrix. Dir. Wachoski Brothers. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie Anne Moss. Warner Brothers, 1999.

The Short Circuit: The Matrix film review 1999. 06 Dec.1999 www.filmspot.com/matrix.htm

Smith, Houston. The Worlds Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991.

Thomas, Brian. Rev. of The Matrix, Dir. Wachowski Brothers. “The Matrix: One pill makes you bigger, the other makes you small.” Psychotropic: Movie

Madness Online. Dec. 1999 6 Dec. 1999. www.psychotronic.com/mm/matrix.htm

Zimmerman, Rev. Matthew. Personal Interview. 07 Dec. 1999.

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